THIP Chapter 31 V2

Sensing her thoughts, Xiao Jiu bristled. “Hmph! Creatures from these low-level worlds can’t enter my space!”

Mu Liuyin let out an “Oh,” realizing Xiao Jiu couldn’t bring items from mission worlds into the system space.

Time in the cultivation world always flew by. Some cultivators could spend decades—or even centuries—closed off in seclusion without realizing how much time had passed. In the blink of an eye, thirty years had gone by.

Mingli had already reached the late Nascent Soul stage.

Mu Liuyin was overjoyed. In the original storyline, Mingli didn’t reach the Soul Formation stage until the story had already begun. Now, they still had fifty-nine years before the plot officially started.

However, Mingli’s personality had also become more and more cold and detached, just like in the story.

And for some reason, Mu Liuyin couldn’t shake a subtle sense of unease.

Over the past thirty years, nearly ten more spatial rifts leaking demonic energy had been discovered throughout various regions of the cultivation world. Although none of them were too disruptive and were all successfully sealed, the cultivators across regions had grown more vigilant.

Still, if these spatial rifts continued to appear year after year, Mu Liuyin feared the thirteen-region seal over the Demon Realm might begin to weaken before the story even began.

She absently stroked Xiao Jiu’s soft fur and remembered how she’d gotten herself in deep trouble back in the first world by trusting the plot too much. She asked, “Xiao Jiu, are you sure the plot won’t go off track?”

Xiao Jiu answered in its cutesy, boyish voice with confidence, “Definitely! Nothing will go wrong this time! That first world only messed up because I was still a newborn system, QAQ!”

Mu Liuyin pinched its tail and lifted it upside-down by the scruff, clearly ready to teach the little guy a lesson, when Yan Hui suddenly walked in.

The white kitten vanished instantly, retreating into the system space.

“What is it?” Mu Liuyin asked.

Yan Hui’s expression was serious. “Senior brother, Mingli sent a message—she’s encountered demonic cultivators at Phoenix Snow Ridge…”

Mu Liuyin’s heart skipped a beat. Just as she sensed something, her figure vanished from the room.

Yan Hui: ???

Wait!!! I wasn’t done talking, senior brother!!!

A cultivator at the Tribulation stage could travel thousands of miles in an instant. Because of the puppet she’d given Mingli earlier, Mu Liuyin was able to instantly pinpoint her location and arrive at Phoenix Snow Ridge within seconds.

The spatial rift loomed just above the mountain, black demonic energy cloaking its peak.

Mingli stood at the summit, her sword piercing straight through a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had fallen into demonic cultivation.

Her strikes were fast and precise. Her expression was utterly emotionless—just like the plot had described her: devoid of desire, devoid of feeling.

As she withdrew her sword, a few drops of blood splashed onto her white robes. Surrounded by dark demonic energy, the cinnabar mark between her brows appeared drenched in blood—eerily red, almost demonic.

Sensing Mu Liuyin’s presence, Mingli casually flicked her hand, sending a bolt of purple lightning to destroy the demonic cultivator’s escaping nascent soul, then soared to her master’s side.

“Master,” Mingli called softly, lips curled into a gentle smile.

Mu Liuyin felt something was off, but she couldn’t say exactly what. Her brows furrowed slightly. She turned toward the rift leaking demonic energy and told Mingli to wait, then went to seal the tear.

Mingli closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, the icy coldness in them had faded. Just now, for a brief instant, she had felt nothing—not even upon seeing her master. Her heart had been completely numb.

She lowered her gaze… and happened to catch sight of something below her collarbone. A crimson mark.

She blinked in surprise. The mark was blood red, resting against her pale skin like a red plum blossom blooming in snow.

What… is this?

After Mu Liuyin sealed the rift, she turned to see Mingli standing motionless, head bowed. A thought surfaced—she suddenly remembered that in the original plot, under certain rare conditions, a blood-red Other Shore Flower mark might appear.

Her expression shifted. Sure enough, she spotted the crimson mark beneath Mingli’s collar.

Placing her hand gently over Mingli’s collarbone, she released a pulse of spiritual energy. The red mark slowly faded until it vanished.

“Master?” Mingli looked up, puzzled.

Mu Liuyin lifted a finger and pressed it gently to Mingli’s lips, her voice low and firm. “Never let anyone know about the blood-red mark on your collarbone.”